It was a trip down “memory line” for Aloke Johri, Member (Mechanical), Railway Board. As the black beauty standing in front of him produced the once-common hissing sound and spewed a plume of smoke and steam Johri could not hide his childlike enthusiasm.
As thousands of workers of the Golden Rock Railway Workshop (GRRW) at Tiruchirappalli clapped enthusiastically, Johri flagged off X37399, a gleaming black steam engine manufactured at the workshop. The engine gave a shrill whistle as driver Rangaswamy pulled the drive shaft and the black beauty began its journey to Coonoor in Nilgiri Hills where it will haul bogies for the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) for the next four decades.
This is the fourth steam engine to be manufactured by the GRRW for the NMR. A jubilant Johri told reporters that the country has joined a select band of nations capable of manufacturing steam locomotives. Not that it is a foreign exchange earner. “The romance, love and grandeur associated with steam locomotives can never be replaced. They are significant in the backdrop of tourism and heritage. We may not be able to go for regular commercial operation of steam engines in the fleet, but we have the expertise to manufacture steam locomotives. Anybody interested in owning steam locomotives is welcome to approach us. We will not let them down,” said Johri.
It took B Anand, Deputy Chief Engineer, GRRW and his team of craftsmen and artisans (as he describes his engineers and technicians) four months and Rs 4.8-crore to manufacture this vintage steam engine.
“We have made some alterations in this black princess. Instead of coal, we are using furnace oil to fire the engine. The 49.5 ton engine is capable of hauling bogies weighing 97.6 tons along the hilly tracks of NMR,” Anand told The Pioneer.
The X Class locomotive and NMR have earned rare honours as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has declared both part of World Heritage Railway System. The uniqueness of the NMR is the Rack & Pinion system which ensures safety and balance of the train while negotiating steep curves. “The rack system helps the locomotives climb the steep gradient of 1 in 12.5,” said Anand. This means that when the train travels a distance of 12.5 metres it would have climbed a gradient of one metre.
In October 2013, when they started working on the engine, all they had was three big metallic blocks. “It required a lot of craftsmanship and artistry,” said John Sundar Basil, one of the master technicians who played a crucial role in the manufacturing process. Anand and his team had to make and procure 3,400 components before they could make the engine fire in its age-old rhythm.
For Johri, steam engines have been a key ingredient in his Railway career. “As a special class Railway apprentice, I grew up in a steam locomotive manufacturing plant which had the best manufacturing practices in the world. For me, there is no Railway life without these steam beauties,” said Johri.
The X Class locomotive is the fourth such engine manufactured at GRRW during the last three years. It can travel at a maximum speed of 30 kmph in the plains and 15 kmph in gradient.